Terrified was the elderly woman who ran into the women’s restroom and hid herself in a bathroom cubicle, slamming the door shut and hastily locking the door. She hid herself away from everyone just to get her frayed nerves to calm and her hands to stop shaking. Her colleagues and assistants and the noisy journalists had all been invading her personal space and left her with anxiety that snowballed into a boulder of inevitable panic. She needed to act quickly in case she had a mental breakdown; She lied and used the false pretence of “freshening up” to get away and lock herself in one of the vacant bathroom stalls and standing on the toilet seat to open the window above. The brisk cold air seeped into the warm, cosy environment of the restroom while she reached into her small red handbag and felt around inside until she found the small pocket containing a metallic cylinder, bringing the small silver device up and pressed it firmly against her lips. Her hands hadn’t stopped shaking for the past hour and she couldn’t hold the E-cigarette steady

Her forehead glistened with beads of sweat as she focused on the flavoured clouds she made. Flashbacks of past conversations with her Husband and grown children regarding her vaping habit flashed across her mind. Many times, did they force her to quit and many times more did they beg her to cut down her consumption; she did try to cut down her intake, she knew that they strongly disapproved it, but lately Margaret was unable to keep her promise when the workload of her job had increased ten times over, straining her marriage and her relationships with her family. She pressed against her lips around the cold silver device and breathed in heavily as she heard the crackling of the liquid being atomised. She later puffed out a huge cloud of mint scented flavouring out into the open air of New York City.

Margaret desperately needed this reprieve, glad for finding a place where she could lace the liquid with nicotine in peace, away from observing, judging eyes: already her nerves were starting to cool down; her stomach however churned at the thought of her immense responsibilities. All she needed was to get away from the politics of her job for just ten minutes or she would’ve had a mental breakdown that she could not afford, especially not now. Margaret needed to escape from the diplomats, the politicians, even the hippy supportive crowds waiting outside the U.N building. Not once did Margaret believe she would be a part of something as grand as this. At most she hoped she could declare World Peace, but this? This was truly going to test her diplomatic abilities.

Suddenly, the silence of the vacant restroom was disrupted with a general announcement that seemed to repeat itself in Mandarin and then French.

“Shit, time to get back to work”

She huffed out the last of the scented liquid into the window before closing it and stepping down from the toilet seat. Margaret hid the E-Cigarette back into her handbag, and made her way to the marble benchtop sink. For a short moment, she looked into her reflection, which brutally showed the kind of price her job was having on her. She was far from retiring age yet looked like she belonged in a nursing home already.

Her hair was already silver with a shine and her forehead had beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks with tired eyes. She doused her face with warm water then walked out the front door.

Her colleagues and assistants ambushed Margaret when she passed the threshold, with key points they wanted her to say during her speech. One such woman from the Security council approached her and begged for her permission to tighten the security around the building, to give the guards armour piercing bullets. 

“Monique, lemme make this absolutely clear to you: If there is even one individual in that room that is not wearing standard building security and is equipped with anything other than standard gear, I will drag you to the front of the building and toss you into the crowds and tell them you are anti-whatever and let them beat you. Do I make myself clear?”

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She nodded her head meekly.

They approached the door that led to the general assembly. The large hall radiated with wealth, status and power. All benches were filled with the representatives of one hundred and forty-seven nations. Margaret hadn’t even crossed the threshold into the room and already every diplomats’ eyes had zeroed in on her. She could see it in their eyes: they were analyzing her and predicting what she would do next. She walked down the aisle on the sky-blue industrial carpet, took her spot in the center of the podium and adjusted herself and her glasses, looking out toward the diplomats, the journalists and the entire world beyond the lens of the cameras.

“My fellow humans. Today I bring to you a new charter that will take us, all of us, into a brighter and more prosperous future. Today will mark the beginning of a new chapter in human history. For millennia, our ancestors once hunted creatures of myth down to near extinction, forcing such creatures to hide themselves among us. Like all of us they had jobs, friends, families and children. Those children have married humans and their children have been led to a life of hiding among us in foreign bodies. As you know, this last year and a half have been difficult for us to adjust to. Creatures we didn’t believe existed started to show up on the streets. But now, we are going to see a unification that will unite all creatures of Earth under one banner. A banner of peace”

She breathed in deeply, then exhaled. She held up her gold clad fountain pen and presented it.

“The old adage: The pen is mightier than the sword can never be truer than this moment; with this pen I will ratify months of intensive diplomacy between my staff and the representatives of Non-humans who have now named themselves: Cryptids. With this charter we will view them as citizens with as many rights as I or any man or woman on this earth.”

Margaret looked down at the proposed charter in front of her and held her hand steady as she signed. The ink flowed from the pen, leaving a moist oily black signature on the lower right corner of the document. She felt her nerves getting the better of her. She told herself to keep her hand steady and without realising it, she was done. Her signature had ratified the new charter.

She stood up and addressed the crowd in front of her. “Ladies and gentlemen of other species in the audience, I ask you to please reveal to us your true forms. You will not need to hide any longer”

Two diplomats stood up amongst the crowd. Margaret felt a flicker of hope when before her very eyes their clothes slowly burned away in a flame of blue. The embers that had flickered off their bodies drifted toward their wrists as their charms stored their clothes to prevent them shredding from their changing bodies. One had grown two feet and had fur all over his body, with canine like features. A woman with a short physique had grown horns and hooves had replaced her lower half. Margaret extended her arm to them as if to invite them to join her on the green stage.

“You see now, just like us they too are creatures of Earth. We are siblings and together we must work for a brighter future for all.” Margaret looked down at her desk to pick up the document and held it up for all to see. The elevated screens behind the stage displayed her visage with the document in plain view.

“With this, I proudly declare that non-humans are citizens of Earth entitled to the same benefits and rights as us humans!”

A thunderous applause echoed off the chamber walls; her eyes assaulted by the rapid flashing of journalists’ cameras getting a photo of her holding the newly signed charter.

A young red-haired man walked up to her. His clothes burned away and the embers flew into the charm on his bracelet, his body grew in size and his stance changed to quadruped. His neck lengthened and wings grew from his bare back as a layer of thick scales enveloped his body. His body mass increased with his body colour changing to a dark grey shade whilst his dorsal scales grew to a fiery red all the way down to the base of his tail. The dragon wore a smile that revealed rows of serrated dagger-like teeth.  

“It feels good to finally be in my real body” He said with a deep baritone voice.

“You’re right, Robert. You and your kin are free now. No more hiding in the shadows, no more gathering in secret spots just to let your true bodies stretch out. The future of all our species and our world is looking much brighter than ever.”

The dragon grinned and a chuckle rumbled in his chest. “I’m still a bit afraid, though. Many humans may not be too happy to see my fellow dragons wandering the streets. And I do not believe there will be many on my side that are keen on being seen in public.”

“You know Robbie. I know the coming months, nay, the coming years will be challenging to integrate human science and magic together. But we will face it as one, whatever comes next.”